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"Ahead lies only the irreversible long decline. For the first time we know there is nothing beyond ourselves."
when do you know that the book you've just read is one of your favorite books? that an author you've been reading is one of your favorite authors? probably a variety of factors come into play. for me, the love affair often begins when i realize that the author or book has a few specific attributes: genuine compassion and empathy for human beings combined with a dark and despairing view o ...more
when do you know that the book you've just read is one of your favorite books? that an author you've been reading is one of your favorite authors? probably a variety of factors come into play. for me, the love affair often begins when i realize that the author or book has a few specific attributes: genuine compassion and empathy for human beings combined with a dark and despairing view o ...more
Aug 16, 2011
Sarah
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
speculative-fiction,
short-stories
Not a light read. In story after story the author shows she is willing to put humankind up to the most unflattering of mirrors. If beauty or joy is found, it is fleeting. Still, it's easy to see why James Tiptree Jr. was so exciting to the SF establishment when "he" burst on the scene. There's something dangerous and intense about the prose, and a sort of gathering of confidence if you look at the stories in a roughly chronological order, from "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" to "With Delicate Mad H
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Since I'm on a roll, I thought I'd follow up my just-written notes on Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home with a few thoughts on this collection of Alice Sheldon's writing.
A lot of Sheldon's work deals with the relationship between men and women and this collection contains two of the most disturbing, and profound, examples of that: "The Screwfly Solution" and "The Women Men Don't See." [Aside: I first read "The Screwfly Solution" as a teen-ager, and it "messed me up." I still find it difficult t ...more
A lot of Sheldon's work deals with the relationship between men and women and this collection contains two of the most disturbing, and profound, examples of that: "The Screwfly Solution" and "The Women Men Don't See." [Aside: I first read "The Screwfly Solution" as a teen-ager, and it "messed me up." I still find it difficult t ...more
i wanted to like this book better, because i found Tiptree's personal story (James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon) so incredibly moving. i am sure that i read Tiptree's stories at the time of their publication so many years ago. i am sure i was bowled over, then.
and, too, i have been listening to a Dickens audiobook, and just about everybody pales in comparison.
but i must say i found these stories a little creaky, a bit geriatric in their outlook. science fiction often doesn't ...more
and, too, i have been listening to a Dickens audiobook, and just about everybody pales in comparison.
but i must say i found these stories a little creaky, a bit geriatric in their outlook. science fiction often doesn't ...more
James Tiptree/Alice Sheldon was an amazing author that makes me want to heap descriptions with hyperbolic metaphor: "prose burning like a star" or "rage as quiet and inescapable as the tide". the short story was her master form, and this definitive collection is a must-read for any sci-fi aficionado, and for anyone even dabbling into feminist or gender-provocative ideas in fiction.
the stories here were like a bit of a bell curve for me - a few early ones were good but not great, and the last few ...more
the stories here were like a bit of a bell curve for me - a few early ones were good but not great, and the last few ...more
A collection of short stories & novellas from Alice Sheldon aka James Tiptree Jr.
There was not a story in this book I did not like. Don't get me wrong, I found some of them to be more intense, or thought provoking than others, but all of them made me think. All of them had some sort of intensity. All of them were interesting. And the book, as a whole, is pure, fucking genius, and I wish I had read Tiptree years ago.
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There was not a story in this book I did not like. Don't get me wrong, I found some of them to be more intense, or thought provoking than others, but all of them made me think. All of them had some sort of intensity. All of them were interesting. And the book, as a whole, is pure, fucking genius, and I wish I had read Tiptree years ago.
...more
Great stories. It was especially interesting to read the introduction and understand the whole mystique surrounding Tiptree and how everyone was so insistent upon how impossible it was for Tiptree to be a woman (which, of course, she was). It really brings an interesting light to the stories. I really enjoyed the thoughts in them, a lot of which are still relevant today.
May 14, 2010
Carolyn
marked it as browse-to-read-someday
Shelves:
science-fiction,
wwe-taw-book-ideas
Jun 05, 2010
Julie S.
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2012
~Geektastic~
marked it as to-read
Apr 02, 2012
Terry
marked it as to-read
Nov 02, 2012
Chueca
marked it as to-read
Dec 11, 2013
Camille
marked it as to-read
Mar 12, 2015
Eric
marked it as to-read
Dec 11, 2015
Carla Patterson
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2017
Maria
marked it as to-read
